Bristol-Myers CEO to retire in May, COO to take helm

TRENTON, N.J. — Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Tuesday its chief executive will retire in May and be succeeded by the current chief operating officer.

The move is the fourth official retirement from a senior health company executive position for James M. Cornelius, who had run Bristol-Myers for 3 1/2 years. He will remain chairman at the request of the company’s board.

The board chose Lamberto Andreotti, 59, to take over from Cornelius as the CEO.

Andreotti was named president and chief operating officer, in charge of the global pharmaceutical business, in March 2009. That positioned him to succeed Cornelius, who is now 66.

“I am aware of the challenges ahead,” Andreotti said, citing a possible U.S. health care overhaul and an anticipated plunge in revenue after the 2012 loss of patent protection for blockbuster blood thinner Plavix, which brings in roughly $5 billion a year.

He said the company is “well-positioned to overcome these challenges,” with about $10 billion in available cash and securities, a diverse line of prescription drugs and a strong pipeline.

Andreotti has been with New York-based Bristol-Myers for a dozen years, both overseas and in the U.S., and is one of the architects of the company’s strategy to transform into a top biopharmaceutical company. He previously worked for two other drug companies, KABI Pharmacia and then Pharmacia & Upjohn, which now is part of Pfizer Inc.

Cornelius will retire on May 4, 2010. He became Bristol’s chairman in February 2008 after being elected CEO by the board of directors in April 2007. That was after Cornelius had served as interim CEO for about eight months.

Cornelius had been brought in after Bristol’s board fired CEO Peter R. Dolan in September 2006 at the insistence of a federal monitor who was overseeing its compliance with standards imposed to settle federal charges in a big accounting scandal.